Carl Edwards came here without his crew chief and with a 100-point penalty that had him on the outside of the top 12 looking in.
Then he went out and did what he has done at intermediate tracks all year:
He dominated.
Edwards made a fairly boring race more lackluster by leading the final 107 laps and holding off last year’s dominant driver, Jimmie Johnson, on a two-lap restart to win Sunday’s Samsung 500.
Four of the seven Sprint Cup races this season have been held at 1.5- or 2-mile ovals. Edwards has won three of them and was leading in Atlanta with 51 laps to go when his engine blew up.
Edwards is without suspended crew chief Bob Osborne, who had to pay the price for Edwards’ car not having an oil deck lid when it was inspected following their victory at Las Vegas.
Because of a 42nd-place finish in Atlanta and a 100-point penalty for the missing lid, Edwards is no higher than 10th in the season point standings. But that has him in position to make the Chase, where he would be leading the field at the start because of 20 bonus points for the two victories, excluding Las Vegas.
“Obviously, the 99 (car) was a rocket,” said J.D. Gibbs, whose three Toyota drivers — Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart — chased Edwards all day to finish third, fifth and seventh. “The [Edwards team] has been great at these tracks all year.”
More Top Picks Best Food Photography Backdrop Boards